Sunday, February 10, 2013

Review- Every Waking Hour by Paisley Smith

Every Waking Hour

by Paisley Smith

January 1, 2013
Lesiban/Historical 50's/Erotic Romance

Pub: Loose Id LLC

Words: 64.5 K

English professor Della Boyd has worked hard to carve out a career
for herself in the male-dominated 1950s South. Having escaped an
unpleasant childhood, she resolves to keep her nose to the grindstone
and work her way up the university ladder. All that changes, however,
when she meets her favorite author, Grayson Garland, whose androgynous
beauty and taboo kisses cause Della to question everything she’s always
believed.

When Grayson Garland returns to bury her father,
the world renowned, eccentric Southern author sets the small town of
Rome, Alabama on its ear. But the old antebellum mansion she once called
home is haunted with dark secrets Gray is reluctant to face. Sultry
nights in the arms of a pretty, oh-so-feminine professor provide ample
distraction, but unless Gray can summon the courage to confront her
demons, even Della’s love won’t be able to save herfrom herself.

(ps: what's with the woman on the cover looking 40-ish? When I saw the cover I thought it's a story about an older spinster, which would have been cool too!)

I think this is Paisley Smith’s best book yet. It’s longer
than her usual story with perfect pacing between the love story build-up,
tension and sex, and it the first book I’ve read in a while that I couldn’t put
down.

Anyone who has followed my reviews knows that I’m
particularly fond of Paisley Smith’s books, her writing style and content. So you
might this review worth a grain of salt. However, this book felt the most polished and
intense of all her books so far so I will have to rave about it.

I loved that this book is set in a small town in the 50’s.
That in itself is unusual. And to have a lesbian story set in the 50’s is even
more intriguing. Both characters are so nicely and complexly written as well.
Ms. Smith really offers an in depth background on how they come to be who they
are and why each reacts to the other the way they do.

While this story is full of the usual amount of sex for a Paisley
Smith book, meaning frequent, intense and fairly graphic, this story also deals
with, in a rather somber way, a serious issue that can cause many problems in a
relationship and which doesn’t come up as a common foil. This-- outside of the
fact that they are two women falling in love at a time when it was not acceptable
on any level.

Della is quiet professor of English and is using a local
famous Pulitzer Prize winning author’s books to teach English. Something about
Grayson Garland’s books speaks to her in ways she likes but doesn’t get. She
leads a quiet life, lives with her brother and dates the English department head
occasionally. She doesn’t feel that excited about her love life, nor was she
impressed with the one time they they had sex.

Grayson, being a famous author and having the confidence
that comes with that, is not shy or ashamed of the fact that she likes to dress
like a man and is a lesbian. She walks into a coffee shop where Della is grading
papers on Grayson’s book and is immediately attracted to Della’s softness and
femininity. Sitting at her table uninvited and shocking Della, Grayson then
proceeds to correct Della’s student’s papers making Della angry at how her most
loved author is being criticized by this freak who clearly knows nothing of
great writing or of the writer’s intentions in what she wrote. Plus, everyone is looking at them.

I loved this set up. It creates a delicious spark of tension
right off the bat.

The sexual tension between these two is hot right from the
start, but simmers unfulfilled until just the right moment when both have
gotten more emotionally attached and want more than just the sex. Della, never
having been attracted to a woman before, finds herself mesmerized by the strong
sexual desire she’s developing for Grayson. Della just can’t resist how feral
and intense Grayson is in going after her. Nor does she want to. Even though
she’s well aware of what that might mean and how it can affect her life, so
compelling is Grayson she can’t stop herself.

Grayson for her part doesn’t waver once on her desire and
need to have Della in her life. However, her troubled past and how she’s dealt with and
is still dealing with it is not sitting well with Della for reasons that have
to deal with her own past. Grayson is portrayed as having a volatile mix of
being cocky and aggressive with being deeply vulnerable making her a bit
unstable and tortured. This makes it very hard for a very composed Della to
deal with and causes a lot of conflict in her.

Fortunately, Paisley Smith walked a nice line here. I have a
hard time with a tortured character who keeps pushing the love interest away
because they feel sorry for themselves or feel unworthy. In this case Grayson
keeps reaching out, not pushing Della away, which gave her an endearing quality
and made it believable that Della would fight for them even against her own insecurities
and fears.

I also felt that Grayson’s issue was dealt with in an honest
and poignant way giving this love story just a bit more depth than your usual
fall in love romance.

I definitely recommend this book. Yeah, there are a few
issues but they were so minor compared to the whole effect. Wish I had another
like it to read.

1 comment:

Thanks very much for a wonderful review and for reading EWH. It was a very different style of writing for me and probably had the most autobiographical elements of any of my characters. I very much appreciate your taking the time to review it.

Adults only- younger than 18- please leave

FTC Disclaimer

All books reviewed on this site as of Oct. 2009 have been bought by the reviewer unless otherwise noted on the review itself.

Review Requests

I'm not currently accepting review requests. You can still email me and let me know about your book. I might still read it and review it, but I can't make promises.

Thank you- Leah

Recent Books Bought, GR updates

Profile & Review index

Welcome

This blog aims to provide a venue for all women who appreciate sensual fiction that celebrates female/female love and sexuality--whether within the scope of a heterosexual romance, a lesbian love story, or a full-on polyamorous relationship.

We hope to maintain a safe environment for women to gather and discuss f/f, Lesbian, and f/f/m erotic/romantic fiction written with a female readership in mind. feel free to contact us at lovingvenus_mars (AT) yahoo (DOT) com.